The invention relates to a method for preparing mail pieces including a reply item. In many mailings responses from addressees are solicited, for example when conducting a survey into customer satisfaction or behaviour, in fund raising, when processing discount coupons or as part of a ballot procedure. In order to facilitate replying, mail pieces of such mailings include reply items, such as reply forms, reply cards or reply envelopes. These reply items are commonly provided with a code, such as a barcode, to be able to determine who has responded when the reply item is received or to determine whether the person responding is entitled to the discount offered.
In United States patent application publication 2006/053084, a system and method for identification of codes for tracking outbound mail and corresponding inbound reply mail is disclosed. Ballot packages consisting of a ballot, instructions and a reply envelope are gathered. The back of the ballot, which should not be retraceable to a voter, carries a ballot style code. After each of the ballot packages has been inserted into an envelope, a style code is visible through a first back window of an envelope and an inbound tracking code for giving an authority advance notice when which quantities of incoming return ballots ate to be expected. Prior to reaching the auto ballot mailer machine 41, the stuffed ballot packages do not include any indication of an intended recipient. On the basis of the style code and data listing which voters are supposed to receive which ballot types, a controller computer selects a next voter and instructs the printer to print the voter's name, address, voter ID code and other tracking information onto the back of the reply envelope, through an open window in the carrier envelope. An audit camera captures data printed on the ballot package and sends the data to a computer, which validates that the decoded data include the voter the data expected for the package.
A drawback of this method is that special measures are required to allow printing on the inserted reply envelope through an open window of the carrier envelope and to ensure that the address on the reply envelope is visible through a window of the carrier envelope. Furthermore, it is required that a list of addressees is provided and accessed during preparation of the mail pieces for reading from and writing to voter's files and that the gathered mail pieces are controlled to ensure that the printed addresses match the associated unique tracking identification markings.
From United States patent application publication 2006/0271236, a system is known for tracking and reporting of mail pieces wherein a document management system is used for printing a unique information code on a document that is to be inserted in an envelope, wherein the code is linked to address information of the mail piece. This code is then used by an in-process tracking and archiving system to track the document during processing and to verify that the document is inserted. Additionally the code may be printed on the envelope in which the document is to be inserted, to allow tracking through a mail system of e.g. USPS (United States Postal Service) or BPO (British Post Office). When the document, or a part thereof, is received from the addressee, the unique code enables automatic processing as the code is linked to the stored address information of the former recipient.
A drawback of such a system is that in order to enable tracking through a mail system of e.g. BPO or USPS, the code has to comply with an external standard such as Four State Code (BPO) or Planet Code (USPS), and consequently the code has to be derived from the address information. Another drawback is that, when the code is printed on both the document and the envelope in which the document is to be inserted, the need of matching the document and the corresponding envelope complicates processing.